Has there ever been a bad card in Mexico? Once again, we will see an incredible PPV-worthy event and the card features both the best Mexican fighters of the last few years and several of the hottest prospects. Here is the UFC Fight Night 237 fight card.
UFC Fight Night 237 Fight Card: Best Non-PPV Card of 2024
UFC Fight Night 237 Co-Main and Main Events
• Flyweight: Brandon Moreno (21-7-2) vs Brandon Royval (15-7-0) • Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez (16-4-0) vs Brian Ortega (15-3-0)
Both the main and co-main events of the UFC fight card this weekend are huge rematches. The last time Moreno and Royval met, the match decided the next contender for the UFC Flyweight title. Back then, Moreno won via TKO in the first round and then went on to win the title a year later.
We have to note that while the previous bout is nowadays considered a TKO stoppage, the truth behind it is that Royval dislocated his shoulder in the first round, which gave Moreno the opportunity to end the fight.
Three and a half years later, the two meet again with the same goal – to earn a new title shot. Both fighters lost to Alexandre Pantoja in 2023 and with the unusual absence of Amir Albazi, we believe that the winner of this bout will face the champion again later in 2024.
As for the co-main event, the situation is quite similar if not nearly identical. Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega met less than two years ago and the match earned Rodriguez a shot at the Interim Featherweight title. He won it against Josh Emmett but then lost to Volkanovski in the unification bout.
As for Brian Ortega, he has not fought since that original bout in July 2022, when he actually also dislocated his shoulder, which led to Rodriguez winning via TKO in the first round. We said that the cases were similar, right?
The winner of this bout will either get a direct title shot again or will have to wait until Volkanovski and Topuria have their rematch. It has not been confirmed yet if Volk will get a rematch but we believe that he deserves it after holding the title for five years.
UFC Fight Night 237 Main Card
• Flyweight: Brandon Moreno (21-7-2) vs Brandon Royval (15-7-0) • Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez (16-4-0) vs Brian Ortega (15-3-0) • Lightweight: Daniel Zellhuber (14-1-0) vs Francisco Prado (12-1-0) • Bantamweight: Raul Rosas Jr. (8-1-0) vs Ricky Turcios (13-3-0) • Women’s Strawweight: Yazmin Jauregui (10-1-0) vs Sam Hughes (8-5-0) • Lightweight: Manuel Torres (14-2-0) vs Chris Duncan (11-1-0)
The rest of the main card will give us a glimpse of what we could expect in the lighter categories in the coming years. In other words, the majority of the fighters are very young.
Daniel Zellhuber and Francisco Prada, for example, are 24 and 21 and have both had interesting starts in the UFC. Both lost their debuts but bounced back in 2023 and will be eager to take the next step towards the lightweight rankings.
Earlier on the UFC Fight Night 237 fight card, we will see the return of Raul Rosas Jr. The 19-year-old won the Contender Series when he was just 17 and three bouts later, he is 2-1 in the UFC. His opponent is the winner of TUF 29, Ricky Turcios, who is also looking to prove himself on the biggest stage.
In the only women’s bout on this card, 24-year-old Yazmin Jauregui looks to bounce back after losing for the first time in her career in July 2023. Her opponent, Sam Hughes, began her UFC career with three consecutive defeats before turning things around and winning 3 of the last 4.
Last but not least on the UFC fight card tonight, Manuel Torres and Chris Duncan will open the main card action after securing big wins in 2023. Both fighters remain unbeaten in the promotion.
UFC Fight Night 237 Prelims
• Bantamweight: Christian Quinonez (18-4-0) vs Raoni Barcelos (17-5-0) • Flyweight: Jesus Aguilar (9-2-0) vs Mateus Mendonca (10-2-0) • Flyweight: Edgar Chairez (10-5-0) vs Daniel Lacerda (11-5-0) • Lightweight: Claudio Puelles (13-3-0) vs Fares Ziam (14-4-0) • Flyweight: Ronaldo Rodriguez (0-1-0) vs Denys Bondar (16-5-0) • Flyweight: Victor Altamirano (12-3-0) vs Felipe Dos Santos (7-1-0) • Featherweight: Erik Silva (9-2-0) vs Muhammad Naimov (10-2-0)
There are several exciting bouts in the prelims section of the UFC Fight Night 237 fight card but we mostly have fighters that earned a contract through Dana White’s Contender Series. The only notable veteran in action is Raoni Barcelos and he has been given yet another tough fight against a promising prospect.
We are unlikely to see the most technical fights here due to the lack of experienced fighters but this usually means that we will instead watch entertaining, unhinged matches. All 12 bouts are also from the lower weight categories, which further supports our expectations for peak entertainment.
Vlad is a former amateur MMA fighter. After a series of injuries, he found a different way to connect with the sport and its fanbase - through writing. He's been covering everything-UFC for over 5 years on various platforms and has been part of the team at NYFights since early 2022.
